February 6, 2024

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Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman isn’t sticking to the usual everything-is-great sentiment when it comes to a pro team—the A’s—moving into town. … FIFA’s extreme sponsorship rules conflict with the fertile U.S. stadium naming rights market. … The reportedly forthcoming end to Kylian Mbappé’s tenure with Paris Saint-Germain brings an expensive coda to an attempted soccer dream team. … Bobby Witt Jr. had some numerically specific requests to what is the largest deal in Kansas City Royals history. … Plus: More on CBS, the Sphere, MSG Sports, and Christian Horner.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

A’s Nevada Stadium Plans Have a Big New Opponent: Las Vegas’s Mayor [[link removed]]

Daniel Clark-USA TODAY Sports

There have been plenty of opponents of the planned relocation of the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas, including from likely sources such as Oakland city officials [[link removed]] and Nevada educators [[link removed]]. But a new and powerful figure has joined that group: Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (above).

Appearing on the Front Office Sports Today podcast [[link removed]], Goodman had harsh words for the MLB team’s effort to build a new $1.5 billion ballpark along the famed Las Vegas Strip, and believes the team would be better served staying in Oakland.

“They … want to get closer to the Strip with all the congestion and everything,” Goodman says of the team’s plans to build at the current site of the Tropicana Las Vegas resort. “And I thought, ‘This does not make sense.’”

Goodman has advocated instead for a larger site in north Las Vegas for the ballpark. But more broadly, the mayor does not believe the A’s would be a strong fit in Las Vegas, counter to how teams such as the NHL’s Golden Knights have deeply integrated [[link removed]] themselves into the local area.

“I personally think [the A’s have] got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland to make their dream come true,” she says.

Even before the mayor’s comments, A’s owner John Fisher already was coming under increased fire [[link removed]] for failing to follow through on scheduled plans to release updated renderings of the planned ballpark, or answer other key questions such as whether the facility will have a retractable roof. The nine-acre Tropicana site, while sitting in a prime location near T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium, is barely larger than the site [[link removed]] of Minneapolis’s Target Field, MLB’s smallest facility footprint.

“There are a lot of questions about whether that’s going to fit,” Goodman says of the Tropicana site.

Goodman later issued a public statement [[link removed]] seeking to walk back some of her podcast comments, and said, “I want to be clear that I am excited about the prospect of Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, and it very well may be that the Las Vegas A’s will become a reality.”

Teachers’ Pivot

The Nevada State Education Association has taken a supplemental approach in its long-running opposition to $380 million in planned public funding toward the new ballpark. After facing a prior setback in its efforts to force a November 2024 public vote on the funding, the NSEA is now backing a lawsuit filed in Nevada’s First Judicial District Court, challenging the constitutionality of the funding. The lawsuit will supplement the still-ongoing but uphill referendum effort to get on this fall’s ballot.

“Even though public education and other services are woefully underfunded in Nevada, politicians chose to direct precious tax dollars to a billionaire’s stadium projects,” said one of the plaintiffs, Chris Giunchigliani. “Hopefully this legal challenge will reset the debate.”

Heading to ‘Boston Stadium’? FIFA Says You Are for 2026 World Cup [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Now that FIFA has finalized [[link removed]] the match schedule for the 2026 World Cup—to be held in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico—a particular quirk of the global soccer governing body is coming to the forefront: FIFA’s refusal [[link removed]] to abide by existing corporate stadium names, monikers that in most instances were solidified long before FIFA planned to bring the tournament to North America.

FIFA’s long-standing policy [[link removed]] has been to give sponsorship presence in the World Cup only to those companies that pay it directly, and the organization considers corporate stadium names a form of “ambush marketing.” During prior World Cups, this issue has surfaced to varying degrees. But the U.S. stands as one of the most active and highly developed markets in the world for sports facility naming rights, bringing the policy to a new level of prominence.

“We consider ambush marketing to be a priority in our brand protection work, as this practice puts FIFA’s commercial program directly at risk by effectively devaluing official sponsorship,” FIFA said.

To get a sense of the naming-rights dollars that will, essentially, go to waste, here’s a list of the scheduled U.S. and Canadian venues for the 2026 World Cup—corporate names; what FIFA is calling each for the tournament; and an estimated worth of their current naming rights:

AT&T Stadium / Dallas Stadium / 20 years, $400 million BMO Field / Toronto Stadium / 10 years, undisclosed cost GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium / Kansas City Stadium / 10 years, undisclosed cost Gillette Stadium / Boston Stadium / 15 years, $120 million (extension) Hard Rock Stadium / Miami Stadium / 18 years, $250 million Levi’s Stadium / San Francisco Bay Area Stadium / 10 years, $170 million (extension) Lincoln Financial Field / Philadelphia Stadium / 14 years, $167 million (extension) Lumen Field / Seattle Stadium / 15 years, $162.7 million (extension) Mercedes-Benz Stadium / Atlanta Stadium / 27 years, $324 million MetLife Stadium / New York New Jersey Stadium / 25 years, $400 million NRG Stadium / Houston Stadium / 32 years, $300 million SoFi Stadium / Los Angeles Stadium / 20 years, $625 million

The FIFA rules will require stadium signs to be covered up and not referred to in game broadcasts, unless those companies strike separate agreements with the governing body. FIFA is also mandating the installation of grass fields, much to the frustration [[link removed]] of the NFL Players Association, which has lobbied against artificial turf in NFL games.

“Look, I would love for it to be called Arlington Stadium, but I get it,” said Arlington Mayor Jim Ross of AT&T Stadium. “The bottom line is we are going to put on a wonderful show.”

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Game-Changing Tech Alliances

At first glance, the NFL and the tech industry may seem worlds apart. But behind the scenes there are a handful of surprising parallels, namely: the strategic depth and teamwork essential for success.

Few understand this overlap better than Cisco [[link removed]].

Before the 2023 NFL season, Cisco teamed up with the league to launch the NFL IT Apprenticeship Program, allowing one graduate from Cisco’s esteemed Networking Academy to work alongside some of the world’s best sports technologists.

This initiative marks a major step toward weaving Networking Academy’s technical education into the fabric of the NFL ecosystem—and the first of many steps.

To explore how the NFL and Cisco are empowering both professional and former players with technical career opportunities, read the full article here [[link removed]].

Adding up the Cost of a Failed Superteam, As Mbappé Plans PSG Exit [[link removed]]

Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports

Paris Saint-Germain’s superteam-that-wasn’t appears to be over. Star forward Kylian Mbappé will reportedly leave the French powerhouse this summer to sign with Spanish power Real Madrid, ending a nearly seven-year run with the team. In 2021, the club seemed on the brink of assembling a soccer dynasty after acquiring former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Neymar to complement Mbappé, creating one of the most talented scoring trios the game has ever seen. Here’s what it cost PSG:

Mbappé: PSG paid $194 million to Monaco in 2017, with a mandatory purchase option. He earned $80 million over three years on his first contract with PSG. In ’22, Mbappé signed a three-year, $235 million extension with $65 million in bonuses. Messi: In 2021 he signed a two-year deal for $36 million a year, with the option for a third season at the same rate. Neymar: He transferred from Barcelona for a record $239 million in 2017. The Brazilian star earned $217 million over four years from his first PSG contract, plus $122 million more through two years on a five-year extension signed in ’21 worth more than $300 million total.

However, money can’t buy a championship, as the team struggled to get its three stars on the field together through a combination of injuries, international commitments, and conditioning issues. Messi broke up the trio last summer when he left for MLS, and Neymar followed shortly afterward. Paris Saint-Germain never made a deep run in the Champions League in the two seasons they were together and didn’t even see a full season with the trio. Here’s what PSG got:

0 Champions League titles (eliminated in the round of 16 each time) 2 Ligue 1 titles 39 total matches played together, out of 100 possible matches ONE BIG FIG Seventh Heaven

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

7

Number of signing-bonus installments worth $7,777,777 each that Bobby Witt Jr. will receive from the Kansas City Royals. Witt, who also happens to wear No. 7, agreed to an 11-year guaranteed deal worth more than $288.7 million. The contract includes a three-year, $89 million team option that would drive the value to more than $377 million. His is the longest and richest deal in Royals history.

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Advancing the Mission With Teams and Leagues

Legalized sports betting has continued to expand over the last five years, and one of the greatest changes we’ve seen in the sports world is the increasing embrace of the industry by professional teams and leagues.

As more states have legalized the practice, the NBA, NFL, NHL, and more have all partnered with sportsbooks like FanDuel [[link removed]] to engage sports fans and elevate the fan experience. As these partnerships have formed, responsible gaming efforts have been an important area of collaboration.

In the third and final lesson, Responsible Gaming Essentials: The Power of Partnerships, join Andrew Sneyd, EVP of Marketing at FanDuel, and Eric Rimsky, Vice President of U.S. Fantasy and Betting at the NBA, for a conversation about how they are leveraging their partnership [[link removed]] to reinforce Responsible Gaming messaging to NBA fans.

Register [[link removed]] for the course today.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

CBS ⬆ The average cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad is $7 million, a number that The New York Times [[link removed]] says continues to go up. CBS will broadcast Sunday’s game, and Paramount, which owns the network, will reportedly run nearly a dozen spots to promote its films.

Sphere Entertainment Co. ⬆ The Sphere’s parent company reported revenue of $314 million in its first full quarter as a public company. James Dolan’s iconic venue sold out its ad inventory for the entire week leading up to Super Bowl LVIII, and ads on the Vegas attraction during the Big Game will reportedly cost up to $2 million.

MSG Sports ⬇ Meanwhile, one of other Dolan’s other properties saw revenue drop to $326.9 million from $353.7 million in Q2. But there’s a silver lining: The New York Knicks and Rangers played a combined nine fewer regular-season home games compared with the prior-year period.

Christian Horner ⬇ The team principal of Red Bull Racing is reportedly [[link removed]] under investigation by the group’s parent company due to alleged “inappropriate behavior” as the Formula One 2024 season is set to begin Feb. 29.

Conversation Starters Tiger Woods is teasing a big announcement [[link removed]] that is supposed to drop Feb. 12, the day after the Super Bowl. A picture of the golfer’s eye accompanies a quote: “This vision remains the same.” The NFL’s media day has turned into a massive attraction. A reported [[link removed]] 23,823 people were in attendance at this year’s event in Las Vegas. Speaking of media day, the NFL brought [[link removed]] back 11-year-old reporter Jeremiah Fennell for Super Bowl week. Editor’s Picks Brent Musburger, Gambling Guru, Is Stunned By NFL’s Betting 180 [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]The TV legend labeled the NFL’s about-face on sports betting “stunning.” DraftKings Sues Ex-Exec Over ‘Secret Plan’ to Aid Fanatics [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Complaint alleges new Fanatics VP “improperly” encouraged DraftKings subordinates to depart. In His Annual Address, Roger Goodell Worked His Home-field Advantage [[link removed]]by Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]]Goodell produced a more relaxed Super Bowl press conference on Monday. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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